Hi @trxtraveller,
Not attempting to disregard your concerns, instead, I’m trying to clarify them based on the provided information.
Regarding the checkout flow:
PayPal Standard does not provide an express checkout feature. Since this is not an option, it can’t be directly compared to the PayPal Payments express checkout from the non-Checkout pages.
When comparing these two integrations, only the actual checkout gateways can be compared.
PayPal Standard creates a checkout gateway that forwards the user to PayPal (full-site redirect). The regular flow is like this:
-visits the product page
-adds a product to the cart
-visits Checkout page
-provides billing information
-select PayPal gateway and click “proceed to PayPal”
-full-site redirect to PayPal, the user logs in and confirms the payment at PayPal
-redirect back to WooCommerce order-received page
From the Checkout page, PayPal Payments works the same way with the difference that the user is not forwarded with a full-site redirect to PayPal but instead confirms the payment in the PayPal popup window. Strictly speaking, the PayPal Payments checkout flow actually requires one less click compared to Standard as it does not display a PayPal confirmation page.
Anyway, the checkout flow that has been referred to in this thread is the express checkout flow from the non-Checkout pages which usually looks like this:
-visits the product page
-clicks PayPal button
-popup window opens where the user logs in, selects a billing/shipping address & pre-authorizes the payment
-buyer is forwarded to the WooCommerce Checkout page with pre-filled billing details
-buyer selects the shipping method & accepts site terms to then confirm the payment with the “Place order” button in your native WooCommerce Checkout page
-redirect to WooCommerce order-received page
Now the user must go back to the seller’s website to reconfirm the order, as seen here – https://trxtraveller.com/two.png after selecting ‘agree and continue’. This adds an extra step and will increase drop off rates. Bad UX. They should, as with the original plugin, be able to purchase after entering their details on Paypal.
The “original” PayPal Standard integration did not provide such an express checkout feature so there is no “extra step”. The express checkout in the previous PayPal Checkout plugin was working almost identical and the benefit is the buyer not having to enter their address details on your Checkout page. The payment confirmation does not happen in the popup window but instead in your native Checkout page.
If you are looking for a way to skip this final review on the Checkout page, you may want to look into this plugin instead as it provides a relevant setting.
There are currently no plans to add a feature like this to PayPal Payments as it would be primarily interesting for shops that sell virtual products only and have no terms to accept (where shop seemingly falls into). Once there is shipping, taxes, or terms to accept involved, this can be more difficult to get right if there is no final review.
Regarding credit card payments, the most streamlined way to ensure your buyers can purchase with credit cards without a PayPal account is by enabling the PayPal Card Processing: https://woocommerce.com/document/woocommerce-paypal-payments/#paypal-card-processing
This provides an unbranded gateway specifically for credit card payments that can be used without a PayPal account.
As mentioned in my previous response (and in the documentation here), a PayPal account is not required in most cases for Standard Card Payments but there can be some scenarios where PayPal requests one. This depends on factors that are outside of the control of the plugin though. Using the PayPal Card Processing for card payments is the best way to prevent PayPal from requesting an account.
I hope that makes it more clear.
Kind regards,
Niklas
